AHOSKIE – One of the most anticipated 3-A football games of the year will be played here Friday.

Hertford County High School will host Rocky Mount High School with both teams entering the contest with spotless 4-0 records.

The Bears, under first-year head coach Diego Hasty, started the season with a 22-6 upset of Parkland High School in Winston-Salem before returning home to defeat Durham’s Southern High School 13-6. Over the past two weeks, HCHS has shut out Northampton-East (29-0) and Northern Nash (27-0).

Rocky Mount has been on an equal roll, knocking off Northampton-East 44-0 in week one before edging Hunt High School 27-20 in week two. The Gryphons then defeated Northern Vance 21-6 before ending J.H. Rose’s win streak with a 17-7 win at home last week.

While Hasty and Rocky Mount coach B.W. Holt will be meeting for the first time at their respective schools, the two coaches have been on opposite sidelines in the past.

Hasty and Holt met when the former was coaching at Weldon and the latter at Franklinton.

The HCHS coach said his team had been working as normal during the week’s practice sessions.

“We have a few people we have had to rest because they’re getting treatment for injuries,” he said. “Mainly, we’ve been working on our normal stuff and maybe a few adjustments.”

While he doesn’t want them caught up in the excitement of the contest, Hasty said he does want his team to be ready.

“I feel some anticipation because I know how good they are,” he said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how my guys step up against them. I’m excited. I hope the kids get excited too.”

For the Bears to be successful, Hasty believes they will have to play well on both the offensive and defensive lines.

“We need to control the line of scrimmage,” he said. “They do so much with the wing-t and all of the misdirection that we have to contain. It’s important we play assignment football.”

The Gryphons will come to HCHS for a 7:30 p.m. showdown Friday night.